Australian Football

Match Report

The West Coast Eagles went into this match needing to win to ensure a top-two finish and a home Qualifying Final berth and fans may have been feeling a little nervous about their ability to do so until midway through the second term. The Eagles led by just 16 points at that stage and St Kilda was putting up a good fight. But the Saints' resistance ended at around about that point as West Coast powered away to win by 95 points.

West Coast got off to a flying start and goals to Mark LeCras (two), Andrew Gaff and Nic Naitanui had the Eagles 24 points clear after just 10 minutes. But the Saints worked their way into the match after that, shoring up their defence and then hitting the scoreboard with majors to Brodie Murdoch and Josh Bruce to be back within 15 points at quarter time.

St Kilda's defence continued to hold up well in the second quarter as the two sides traded in behinds only until the 15-minute mark. Jamie Cripps finally broke the drought with a goal for the Eagles at that point and Callum Sinclair followed up with another two minutes later to take West Coast's lead 28 points. Each side added one more goal before the half-time siren and it was the Eagles by 26 at the main break.

When play restarted in the third term, it didn't take long for the dam wall to inevitably burst. After behinds from Josh Kennedy and Jack Darling, Kennedy kicked two majors in a row and Gaff added another as the Eagles' lead jumped out to 47. Bruce pulled one back for the Saints but West Coast closed out the quarter with three more through Naitanui, Josh Hill and Kennedy to lead by 53 points at the last change.

The first 15 minutes of the final quarter was a procession. West Coast kicked four goals in that period, two to Darling and one each to LeCras and Naitanui to extend the margin to 88 points. The game meandered after that, Elliot Yeo scoring one final goal at he 25-minute mark to give the Eagles a solid 95-point win.

West Coast's best included Gaff (36 possessions, two goals) and Naitanui (three goals, 30 hitouts) while St Kilda had good players in Leigh Montagna (33 touches, six tackles) and David Ermitage (27 disposals, eight tackles).

The Eagles finished the season in second place with 16 and a half wins and they will host the Hawks at Subiaco on Friday night. A win will give them a week off and another home final tw weeks later. St Kilda faded towards the end of its season, but can still be well content with 14th place and six and a half wins, given that most pundits predicted a wooden spoon for the young Saints, with some even suggesting they would not win a game.

GOALS
West Coast: LeCras 4; Kennedy, Naitanui 3; Darling, Gaff 2; Cripps, Hill, Sinclair, Yeo
St Kilda: Bruce 2; Murdoch, Goddard

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
West Coast: Naitanui, Priddis, Gaff, Kennedy, Shuey, Hurn, LeCras 
St Kilda: Montagna, Armitage, Steven, Fisher, Ross, Dunstan

BEST - WATODAY.COM.AU
West Coast: Gaff, Naitanui, Priddis, LeCras, McGovern, Hutchings
St Kilda: Montagna, Armitage, Ross, Steven, Newnes, Fisher

INJURIES
West Coast: Masten (hamstring)
St Kilda: Nil

SUBSTITUTES
West Coast: Xavier Ellis replaced Chris Masten in the second quarter.
St Kilda: Jack Sinclair replaced Hugh Goddard at half-time, Darren Minchington replaced in selected side by Jack Sinclair.

UMPIRES: Ryan, Dalgleish, Ryan

TELEVISION BROADCAST: Seven Network

COMMENTATORS: Brian Taylor, Luke Darcy, Matthew Richardson, Cameron Ling